[00:00:01] Speaker A: You're listening to the Hog Sports Network daily podcast.
Now here's your host, Matt Jones.
[00:00:09] Speaker B: Hey, welcome in. Happy Thursday to you. We've got Bubba Carpenter in studio today we'll talk Razorback baseball after their midweek sweep of Louisiana Monroe yesterday over at Baum Walker Stadium. Anthony Christensen will be in a little bit later we'll talk Razorback basketball, the win over Vanderbilt and this upcoming weekend's game against Mississippi State. But we start with baseball. Razorbanks win 14 to 1 in a pair of seven inning run rules over Ulm. Arkansas now has won eight games in a row. Bubba, they look, I mean you have to consider the competition. I know that but I mean they, they did to Ulm what you would hope that Arkansas would, would do to an opponent of that caliber. Last couple of days.
[00:00:53] Speaker C: Yeah, I think so. I was impressed with the hitters, I really was. You know what, honestly, the pitching yesterday too with the wind blowing out like it was, I thought Bybey did a good job. Tate Tate did good job. McIntyre thought they all did a good job. But the, the hitters, what did we draw? 13 walks yesterday.
[00:01:10] Speaker B: 13 walks? Yes.
[00:01:12] Speaker C: And Nick and I talked about it on the broadcast. There were only a couple that were like non competitive. Like the, the one dude, the lefty walked, I think eight balls in a row. But other than that a lot of our walks were like com good at bats where we laid off of pitches and then got good pitches to hit and either hit it or drew our walk. And that's what I like about this team is they're, they're really good at, if they don't get a pitch they, they'll take their walk, let the next guy do the work.
[00:01:37] Speaker B: Okay, so you said you can't remember what you had for lunch yesterday. Can you remember the game two days ago? 14 to 1.
[00:01:42] Speaker C: Yes.
[00:01:42] Speaker B: Okay, so let's, let's, let's start there. Arkansas wins this game and it ended in a weird fashion where it ends up getting suspended and has to be completed. Yesterday Kahila Loy hit a grand slam on the ninth pitch after the restart to initiate a 14 to 1. The big inning though was a six run fourth inning. I think Ryder Helfrich led off with a home run that I'm convinced brought the rain because it wasn't raining. And he hits this moonshot and then two minutes later it's raining throughout the rest of the fourth inning. Brent Iredale had a two run home run in that inning. And it just goes back to what you were saying.
It felt like the Hitters were really locked in over the last couple of days.
[00:02:22] Speaker C: Yeah, I think they were.
I mean, the pitching they faced wasn't, it wasn't that bad. I mean, it wasn't. I think we just did a good job of hunting our pitch and then when we got it, we were on time.
And it's good to see early on, like, you know, you, you never know early in the year. Like you don't game plan for some of the speeds that they're seeing. I talked to Nolan after the game yesterday and that was one thing we talked about is it's tough, like opening up against Washington. You don't see some of the speeds that they saw. And because all fall you're seeing their guys at 95 and then all sudden you're facing a guy as fastballs, you know, 85. And that's what our starters change ups are, you know. And so I think it's, I think it's tough to adjust, but I think our guards have done a really good job, you know, the last few days of getting it done.
[00:03:10] Speaker B: Really good outing by Colin Fisher. What was it, three innings, six strikeouts and didn't have a whole lot of traffic.
[00:03:17] Speaker C: He looked really good, had all his pitches working.
You know, he reminds me of Kaiko Dallas. Kaikal pushes off the third base side of the, the rubber, can throw across and clip that outside corner to righties. He can also throw into righties.
I just like the way he pitches. And you know, if, if something were to happen in starting rotation, that wouldn't be a bad option to throw him in the weekend rotation.
You know, let's say, let's say we have trouble with a closer. You know, move Bedelcheese to closer, move Fisher. I mean, there's just so much, there's so many different directions you can go with it. But I thought he looked great for.
[00:03:58] Speaker B: A pitcher like Fisher. You know, he was in the same class with Gabe Gackel and with Hunter Dietz, who we'll talk about a little bit later. But you know those guys, they come in and I mean, they got electric stuff. Fisher doesn't have that. He, he has to teach himself how to pitch a little bit differently. When you see him have kind of the same kind of success without the same kind of stuff, I wonder, what do you think?
[00:04:22] Speaker C: Well, first time I saw him pitch last year, I was impressed with his mound presence. Like he, you know, he doesn't have a 98 mile an hour fastball, but he knows how to pitch. And I, I say all the time, I'd rather face a guy throwing 98 down the middle or, you know, that's just throwing a fastball than a guy that can throw 88 and cut it, sink it, you know, work to both sides of the plate. Those guys are tough to hit.
[00:04:50] Speaker B: So mentioned, Kahillo had the grand slam to end this first game.
It was ninth pitch after the restart, Vijeva had a line out. They intentionally walk Logan Maxwell, who didn't play in game two, by the way. How about his day? He goes up there, says, you know, I mean, you don't have to take the pitches anymore. Just go down to first. And then Cajillo hits a grand slam. He jogs around the bases, and he's done for the afternoon. Nice little. Nice little, you know, warm up for him. But on Cahillo, it's a 3, 2 pitch. Guy hangs a breaking ball, and, I mean, he just crushed it. And we talked about the wind yesterday. It was like gusting at, you know, probably about 40 miles an hour, steady, probably 20 to 30 miles an hour, gusting to 40. And he didn't hit it into the wind, but I would say he kind of hit it against the wind where, you know, it was. It was in kind of the direction of where the wind was coming from. And the trackman was not working at the time that he hit it. I told you that I studied the. The replay like the Zapruder film last night, because it wasn't real clear, but I could finally see where the ball was bouncing and it landed right next to the leg of one of the picnic tables out there in left field. And so if I were guessing, I would say that's about a 440 to 460 foot home run that he hit a little bit into the wind.
[00:06:19] Speaker C: So I looked at your. Your picture you sent me, and I didn't see a baseball, but it was there, I promise. I saw your little circle and I saw that. I saw. I don't know if it was a rock or a piece of dirt or trash or something. I don't know what it was, but. But I believe you. But that. That's a long way. I didn't see the ball land when he hit it. I watched the ball for a second and I looked back at Cahillo to see what he was doing, and look back, and I never saw the ball land. But I know it was a bomb, an absolute bomb. It's a shame the trackman wasn't working.
[00:06:48] Speaker B: They've been able to do this a few times where they can go.
I don't know what kind of technology they're using, but. But they can kind of see where the ball landed and they can go back and reconstruct distance on it. Now you can't get exit velocity because I would have loved to have known the exit velocity of that ball into that wind for it to, you know, go as far as it did. But I'm hoping that maybe today or tomorrow we'll get an estimate on how far the ball went, because I think it would be a pretty impressive number.
[00:07:17] Speaker C: Yeah, I'd like to see. Are you going to go out there and measure it from the fence to the picnic table? No, just.
[00:07:22] Speaker B: You want to come help?
We could like extend the tape measure out long enough.
[00:07:27] Speaker C: I'll do it, Mark, because I want to know. I'm stubborn. It kept me up all night that Trackman wasn't working.
[00:07:33] Speaker B: Meet me over there at 9 tomorrow morning.
[00:07:34] Speaker C: We'll do this.
But you know what, it was a great at bat. And when the guy threw that pitch, it was like slow motion. I mean, you could just see the ball.
[00:07:44] Speaker B: Everything's in slow motion for him right now.
[00:07:46] Speaker C: I think it is. I mean, when you're going, well, I mean, the ball looks like a beach ball. Everything just. It's crazy. And in the post game press conference yesterday, one of the, one, one of the reporters asked Dave if he's getting, I don't remember how they worded, like trash pitches. Are you surprised he's not getting more trash? He is getting a lot of junk thrown at him, but he's taking it. He's not swinging at it. And then he's getting a good pitch and when he gets it, he hammers it. Just like, I mean, that was a great at bat. You know, fouled off a pitch, but then worked the count. Finally got a pitch over the middle of the plate and hammered it.
[00:08:19] Speaker B: We're going to play that sound bite here in a few minutes, by the way. I got that listed here. The first sound bite, though, that we're going to play from Dave Van Horn was about the grand slam and just ending game one quickly, where, you know, they didn't have to stay out there very long before they got on to game two.
[00:08:34] Speaker D: Just, just, you never know what could happen. I told our team, I said, you know, we could line out three times and play the full game and you just never know. I said, but let's, let's not do that. Let's, let's find a way to get this run in.
But he, he had a really good at bat. You Know, he bowed off some pitches, laid off some pitches, and then he got him one. That was a full count.
Just, it looked like it. Get me over curveball. I mean, it was bell tie down the middle, and he just destroyed it, you know, finished it up. And I told the guys before that inning started that, you know, if we walk him off the field, we're not going to do anything crazy because we got another game. Don't be chasing anybody out center field and all that type of stuff. And, you know, they got it and they did a great job.
[00:09:26] Speaker B: Yeah, it was, you know, fairly subdued reaction. They did that little thing where the three baserunners who were on and the guy on the on deck circle, they kind of met at the plate, but, you know, pretty much it was just, hey, walk back to the dugout and get ready for game two.
[00:09:39] Speaker C: Yeah, no, I like that. If that were Ole Miss, they would have done cartwheels around the plate. Vanny would have stomped on the plate a few times. They'd have done a bunch of stupid stuff.
[00:09:48] Speaker B: Jumping jacks.
[00:09:49] Speaker C: Yeah, so. So, yeah, I like. I like how they handled it, but they did. They had another game to play. And so, you know, I think it's. That's. That's Dave like to tell him, hey, you know, chill out right here. We got another game.
[00:10:01] Speaker B: So when you hit a ball like that and, you know, you may go 10 years and never see that type of situation like what played out yesterday, but when Arkansas beats them like that and you do it with this, you know, crushing grand slam, when it looks like Ulm might be able to potentially get out of the inning and take it on to nine innings, how do you think that affected Ulm in game two? I mean, does that affect their psyche at all?
[00:10:26] Speaker C: No, I don't, because I think in their mind, they knew this game's not going to last very long because just the situation, that's a really tough situation to come into, felt weird before the game. You know, we're sitting there in the booth and we're looking and. And the Razorbacks are ready to go. They're sitting in the dugout. Ulm's over there. They're sitting in their dugout. Nothing's happening. We're just like, this feels like a really weird situation.
But, yeah, I don't think. I don't think that phased them because I think they kind of had anticipated it.
[00:10:57] Speaker B: Okay, so I want to talk about Kahia Walloy.
And it's little deals where it's like, what do you. What's left to say about what he's doing. But I, I dug into some numbers and I want to go over some of these numbers with you, Bubba. First off, by playing yesterday, he actually finally qualifies for the NCAA batting lead. So he took that overnight at.556 with a.556 average. First nationally. He works first nationally with 2.6 RBI per game. He works third nationally with an 1194 slugging percentage, fourth with 26 RBI and tied for 15th with six home runs. Those aren't even the crazy stats. I don't think here, here are the two that really stand out to me. Maybe three ops fell to 1822 after that last out. Yesterday it was at 19 29. Before that with runners in scoring position, 15 for 22 with 24 RBI. Usually if a guy is hitting.250 to 300 with runners in scoring position, you're like he's, you know, he's getting the job done. This guy's hitting.682 right now with runners and scoring position. And then just one more for you because you know he struggled with right handers last year at byu we didn't know how he'd hit right handers against right handed pitching. Right now a.615 batting average with a 1996 OPS.
[00:12:20] Speaker C: That's crazy. I mean those are like wiffle ball numbers.
[00:12:23] Speaker B: Yeah, I mean it looks like something like, you know, when you're playing that what is mlb? The Show? Yeah, you know, you got this. That's what it looks like he's doing.
[00:12:31] Speaker C: It's, it's incredible to see and you know, it's good. Hopefully it keeps going. You know, you got conference coming up next weekend. We got, we got what, four more games till conference. Hopefully. Hopefully he'll keep it going. But yeah, that's a good place to be when you're, when you feel that good at the plate. And like I said, he, he's, he's getting his pitch. I live by the three pitch rule. I think every, every bat you're going to get a pitch to hit, you got to be on that pitch. Pitcher has a pitch, umpire is a pitch. It's like a borderline strike and you get a pitch. And boy, when he gets that pitch, he ain't missing it.
[00:13:06] Speaker B: More impressive stat. 1822 OPS or.682 with runners in scoring position.
[00:13:13] Speaker C: I'd say, I always say it's not what you hit, it's when you hit. So I like the 682 with running the scoring position to Me, that's impressive.
[00:13:20] Speaker B: And I actually started looking that up because, you know, he, I don't. I think he didn't get the job done the first time against Ulm when he came up with runners in scoring position and I knew he'd been doing pretty well. So I looked that up and I kind of had that written down. Well, then he gets a hit and then he gets another hit and then he gets a grand slam and then he gets a three run home run. I was like, holy cow, this guy. I mean, in the, in the Ulm series, he had 10 RBI in two games.
It's unbelievable what we're seeing from him.
[00:13:46] Speaker C: Yeah, it really is. And, and I think a lot of it goes to the depth of the lineup. You can't pitch around him. You know, in game one, you had Iredale hitting behind him. Game two, you had Kendall hitting behind him, who hit one off the top of the building.
[00:13:57] Speaker B: And Iredale hit a home run in game one.
[00:13:58] Speaker C: Yeah, so, I mean, you kind of pick your poison there. And I think that's what makes this lineup special is, is the length of this lineup. I mean, you look at it and from top to bottom, I mean, it's pretty impressive. You got a leadoff guy that hit one halfway off the scoreboard, you know, for a grand slam. So I mean, it's a. Yeah, it's a pretty good lineup.
[00:14:19] Speaker B: So this is what Dave Van Horn had to say yesterday about Kahiwa Loy and just what he continues to do with the plate.
[00:14:25] Speaker D: Yeah, you know, there was a couple of times I didn't think they would pitch to him in that second game.
Obviously he's, he's not missing mistakes. You got to pitch him really carefully. But, you know, he, he. I think he walked once maybe and I don't know, you know, he's. I guess they're worried about the guy behind him or they're just saying, hey, it's a midweek game, let's see if we can get the guy out. Maybe they didn't feel like that, you know, they were going to be able to keep up with this offensively and they just, they just went after him. You know, I think that, you know, you have a player this hot, you got to have somebody behind him swinging it well, you know, so he will get some pitches. And, you know, it was really good to see, you know, Kendall get into one there.
[00:15:17] Speaker B: So Dave Van Horn on Kahil Aloy there, and he mentioned that, you know, having somebody behind him to protect him, it feels like they are Doing a really good job right now of whether Kahillo hits fourth or fifth. We've even seen him sixth in the lineup, that they've had somebody behind him that's. That's hitting pretty well too.
[00:15:34] Speaker C: Yeah, I mean, that for me, that's the key. You gotta. If. If there's not a threat behind him, they're just gonna pitch around him. Maybe he chases it, maybe he doesn't. A lot of times, though, you tell a pitcher, you know, hey, don't give him anything to hit. Like, you'll see a pitching coach go out there, first base open, they try to pitch around him. Next thing you know, you're hanging a breaking ball or you leave one fat over the middle of the plate. But I think as long as there's someone behind him, that's a threat. I mean, you can't just walk him. I mean, you just can't.
[00:16:02] Speaker B: So he's had some success on first pitches, but we've seen with him a lot where he's going to two, two, three two. You know, three one counts. I mean, is that. Do you think that's helping the batter behind him, that they're. They're seeing some pitches that he's taking?
[00:16:18] Speaker C: Yeah, I think so. And, and I think that's what's been impressive to me is like, you'll see him swing through like a fastball, foul it straight back, and he'll take one of the Kuhio big hacks and foul off a couple more pitches or maybe, maybe work the count and then get that same pitch again and not miss it the second time. And that's, that's what good hitters do, is they make an adjustment.
[00:16:39] Speaker B: I asked Dave if he could remember a DH ever hitting like this and he could remember a dh. He mentioned Ken Harvey, who hit for him at Nebraska, ended up being an all Star for the Royals one year. This would have been, I think, 99. He played for Van Hornet, Nebraska, or that was his big year. He ended up being one of the finals for the Golden Spikes Award that year. Dave said that he was hitting like.500 going into May. But I was thinking about and Oliver Grigg, who's the Sid for the baseball team. He and I were texting this morning about, like, what's the best 10 game starts for a Razorback? And for me, there's always been two players who are kind of the bar for early season success. You remember what Heston Kirstad did before the shutdown in 2020? Yeah. These were his numbers.439. A 15.35 OPS, four doubles, five home runs, 13 RBI.
You compare that against Cahillo, a.556 average, 18.22 OPS, five doubles, six homers, 26 RBI through 10 games. So basically, he's doubling, and at least from an RBI standpoint. And he's better in these other categories than curse dad was. And we thought that that was going to be a potential golden spike season.
[00:17:55] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah, you're right. But okay, so when it comes to the RBIs. Wait, do you say RBI or RBIs?
[00:18:01] Speaker B: I think when I'm talking, I say RBIs just because it's, you know, it's a little bit more informal. Whenever I write it, I write rbi.
[00:18:08] Speaker C: Okay, just checking.
[00:18:10] Speaker B: What do you say?
[00:18:11] Speaker C: I see rbi. Yeah, because, you know, like, if I see a deer, it's not deers, right? All the deers. It's a deer. But when it's an rbi, it's. It's multiple. It's like it's rbi.
[00:18:22] Speaker B: I've heard some people who try to be a little bit too smart say rsbi, and that drives me crazy.
[00:18:26] Speaker C: It does. Yeah. We actually had that talk in the booth yesterday. So. But, you know, for me, RBI is kind of a team thing. You got to have guys on base, and guys in front of him are getting on base, and a lot of times, you know, first base is occupied, so they're pitching to him.
[00:18:44] Speaker B: Okay. Now, the gold standard for the, like, the hottest start I've ever seen from an Arkansas hitter. Do you remember Aaron Murphy, 2008, big right hander, played first base, DH.
[00:18:55] Speaker C: Yeah, I don't know a lot of. I remember vaguely.
[00:18:58] Speaker B: Okay, so through 10 games in 08, a.487 average, 1904 OPS, 4 doubles, 10 homers, and 24 RBI through 10 games, he actually homered in games 11 and 12, too. He had 12 home runs through 12 games that season.
[00:19:13] Speaker C: It's a good start right there.
[00:19:14] Speaker B: I think he had one stretch where he hit like, eight homers in three games. It was crazy.
[00:19:18] Speaker C: That is crazy. How did he finish, though?
[00:19:20] Speaker B: Do you. Not good.
Not. Not great. That. That team. Everybody kind of fell off toward the end there in 2008, so. But Cahillo is doing, I mean, kind of what Aaron Murphy did in 2008, and I wasn't sure we'd ever see that again.
[00:19:33] Speaker C: Yeah, it has been impressive. It's fun. I mean, you love a good story like that. And you know something I haven't talked to Kahil about. I want to. I want to ask him, you Know, he was a pitcher, so being a pitcher and moving to a hitter, I wonder if that helps him at all. Because I. I pitched back in the day, but then when I got a pro ball, I stayed away from pitchers because I, you know, they were the enemy. So. And then I realized the best way to. To understand them is to room with one. So I actually roomed with a pitcher so I could get to know him better.
But I wonder if that helps Kuhio being being a pitcher in college for a year and then switching to hitter, you know, flip flipping it, you know, because I tell my pitchers.
Yeah. When I tell my pitchers, when you step on the mound, I said, you control the plate. And I tell my hitters, when you step up to the plate, you control it, not the pitcher. So I wonder if that helps him, if he. Or if there's any thought process at all.
[00:20:33] Speaker B: Did you notice that the Hawaiians were just going off yesterday?
[00:20:36] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:20:37] Speaker B: During this whole series midweek. During the midweek, Kahio Viva and NOLAN Sousa combined 13 for 26. Three walks, four doubles, three homers, nine runs, 15 RBIs.
[00:20:49] Speaker C: It's pretty good. So here's a funny story. I go down to the dugout yesterday, and I was going to do Charles Davilon as player of the game. He had already gone up, up the tunnel. So there were three guys there.
Kuhio, Viva, and Nolan. They're all standing there and, you know, I said, does anyone want to do the post game? And none of them, they're all. They're all pointing at the other. Well, he did this. And then he would point at him and say, well, he did this. And, you know, they're all pointing at each other. And it's, it's, it's, you know, it's neat to see they're all so modest, you know, but they're all pointing at the other guy saying, well, he had a great game. He did this. And so anyway, I ended up talking to Nolan. So.
[00:21:27] Speaker B: Yeah, talking too, right?
[00:21:29] Speaker C: Yeah.
No, I tell you what, they're so quiet. I enjoy talking. I like talking to all three of them. They're funny. I'll tell you, when you get Kuhio and Veheva together and you get them going against each other, they're a lot of fun to talk to.
But Nolan and I had a good talk yesterday. He talked about simplifying his swing and everything. So it was fun.
[00:21:49] Speaker B: They all played so well yesterday. I actually googled just. Just to see if I got a hit. Like, was it like some sort of like, holiday or something in Hawaii, you know, because, like, Tuesday was Fat Tuesday. I mean, if they got some big celebration or something in Hawaii on that Wednesday, and they did not. Although I did find some interesting Hawaiian holidays that I might have to do something about a little bit later in the season. You mentioned Nolan, and he had the home run that ends game two. And I just. You know, I said this on the radio yesterday morning. Somebody was asking me about him. I said, it just looks like he has figured something out with his swing. Even the outs were number one. Not a lot of strikeouts here. And it's a small sample, but over the last few games, not a lot of strikeouts, and a lot of the outs were hard hit outs.
So he has a good day yesterday. Obviously ends it with that home run. It just feels like maybe he's figured something out. And he mentioned to you. He mentioned in the press conference afterward that he and Nate Thompson have been working a lot on keeping his head still during his load. And. And it seems like that's paying off.
[00:22:53] Speaker C: Yeah, I think so. He. We talked a little bit before and after the interview about that, and he said he just made some adjustments to kind of simplify the swing. Said he had too much movement with his head. He's trying to get his hands a little closer to the launch position, so there's not as much movement before the. The. Before the swing.
So I like all those things. And that just goes to show you and people, you know, I think sometimes that's why I get frustrated, Matt, is when. When someone's struggling, people just pounce on them. They don't realize how hard it is. It's. It's a hard game and how hard these guys work and how hard the coaching staff works because, you know, no one's been frustrated.
And then he has hit some balls really hard. They've been caught lately. So you're like, you know, it kind of just starts to add on. But, boy, he stuck with it, kept working, and hopefully. Hopefully he. I mean, he looked like he.
[00:23:44] Speaker B: Do you think it's harder to come out of a slump now than it was when you played because you didn't have to play with social media? And you can tell these guys, hey, ignore it. Turn it off. You know, delete it from your phone, whatever.
That's a lot easier said than done.
[00:23:58] Speaker C: I think so, because everyone knows everything about you. So, like, you know, I think we talked about it on Monday. I was a notorious slow starter. I'd go into conference play every year hitting.200. Everyone else is hitting 5 or 600.
[00:24:13] Speaker B: Would somebody tweet at you in 1988 if they could?
[00:24:16] Speaker C: Oh, get him out of the lineup. Why are you playing him? Coach D. Find somebody else.
[00:24:22] Speaker B: Could you imagine Norm on Twitter?
[00:24:24] Speaker C: No, I can't imagine.
[00:24:27] Speaker B: This is.
Go ahead.
[00:24:29] Speaker C: That would be. That would be fun to see.
[00:24:31] Speaker B: But, yeah, this is what Dave and Horn had to say about Nolan Souza and how his play is coming along. The last week or so, Nolan and.
[00:24:38] Speaker D: Coach Thompson went in and made some adjustments, changed it, stood him up a little bit.
Yeah, I probably give you a few more details, but they, They've worked hard together and, you know, I agree with you, though. You know, this game is so mental. And make an adjustment, you get a hit.
Start feeling better about yourself, standing in the batter's box and confident. And he's definitely. He's definitely swinging the bat with a lot more authority and confidence since that base hit.
[00:25:10] Speaker B: That base hit being the hit that started the ninth inning rally against Charlotte on Sunday. And Nolan obviously ended up scoring the winning run there. It's good for them because, you know, I was thinking, when he gets on base and he drew a couple of walks yesterday, when he gets on base, I think he's their most talented baserunner.
[00:25:29] Speaker C: Dude can fly and he's a good baserunner. You know, I know Dave said something in the post game. I watched him at second base towards the end of that game, and I mean, he wanted to steal third. He was timing the pitcher up and, you know, you love to see that out of a baserunner. But, you know, when it comes to a swing, Matt, there's so much that goes into a swing. Like every frame, like one frame can affect your swing. And, you know, a lot of guys have a lot of slack. I call it slack in the swing. It's. It's excess movement before you launch your swing. And, you know, just cleaning up a frame or two here or there can totally change you. It turns, you know, ground ball to second into a line drive off the scoreboard. So it's crazy how it works.
[00:26:13] Speaker B: I understand some of this is about who they played and, you know, they're going to play better teams moving forward. But it feels like in the moment, it doesn't feel like there's as many holes in the lineup as maybe we felt like there were 10 days ago.
[00:26:27] Speaker C: No, no, there's nothing. There's. This is a tough lineup now. I mean, from top to bottom. And then you look at what's on the bench. I mean, it's a tough job for Dave to make Out a lineup. There's a lot of different directions he can go. I mean, I look at a guy like Carson Bowles and I still love his approach at the plate. And, you know, it's hard to get guys like that in that bat. And there's. There's other guys on the bench that are kind of the same. It's just hard to get everyone at bats. And it's a, It's a good problem to have. But it goes back to what we talked about Monday. It frees Dave up to be able to make moves when he wants to make a move. Whether it's pinch hit and Pepe in the fourth inning or whatever. They're able to do a lot more things offensively and it's, it's fun to watch.
[00:27:11] Speaker B: I want to go back to Tuesday's game real quick because there were a lot of people that wondered, why do you not just call that game? Why do you suspend it and restart it on Wednesday?
[00:27:20] Speaker C: Well, okay, so if you call it, you got to go back to the inning before the previous inning.
So you look at a guy like Nolan, Nolan loses that base hit, you know, so you just go ahead and you just.
[00:27:34] Speaker B: Ulm loses a run too, because they had gotten a run in the bottom or in the top of the seventh.
[00:27:39] Speaker C: Yeah. So, I mean, you know, Cole Gibler would, you know, he would love to have.
[00:27:46] Speaker B: Knocked that off the, the stat line. But.
[00:27:49] Speaker C: Yeah, I think that's why you just, you just continue where you picked up and that's. I like it like that. I used to hate it. I know there was one year I had three or four home runs taken away on games that were either canceled, you know, like in the third inning or fourth innings, you know, and it was just like, can we not just pick this game up where we left it off?
[00:28:10] Speaker B: There's something to be said too, I think, for the coaches and the players too, like wanting to have some some sort of.
I don't know what the word is, basically to finish it the right way.
[00:28:24] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:28:24] Speaker B: You know what I mean?
[00:28:25] Speaker C: Well, I think about, like, he knows he's leading off, so I'd have been foaming at the mouth all night knowing that I get the lead off the next day with runners of second and third, and I knew they were going to walk somebody. I didn't know if they would take their chance against behavior, let him hit and then walk Maxwell, which they end up doing. But I knew, I knew at some point someone was going to get walked, and I didn't know if they were going to lead off and walk. To load up the bases initially or take their chances. And it ended up. Yeah, they pitched to fa. It's so hard. I get the Alloys confused sometimes. So we need, like, nicknames for both of them.
[00:29:09] Speaker B: I've heard some people calling them Alloy Senior and Aloy Jr, which doesn't make any sense to me, but that's what I've heard.
[00:29:15] Speaker D: Yeah.
[00:29:16] Speaker C: I don't know. My wife calls Kuhio Cujo.
[00:29:21] Speaker B: Did you notice? So when that lightning strike hit and Souza's running into third, the umpires were going to let it keep going. They weren't going to say anything. They wanted to try to get that over if they could. And then, you know, the game official steps out. It's like, we got to get them off the field.
A couple of the umpires, by the way, during that series, Seth Buckminster and Mark Wagers. Those are. Those are World Series umpires. Those are guys who you see in June quite a bit.
[00:29:49] Speaker C: Yeah, it's good. You know, strike zone was good. I thought they did a good job. It got a little bit bigger in a couple of those games, which I. I don't like. I don't like it when the zone gets bigger as the score, the. The margin gets wider. I don't. I don't like the strike zone getting bigger because let's say you're a guy coming off the bench, and those are a different topic you didn't want to talk about. But, you know, if you're a guy coming off the bench, let's just say Carson Bowles coming up and you get the pinch hit late in the game. It's a 9, 10 run game. And the umpire's like, well, I'm gonna open up the zone a little bit. No, you're not. Because this dude's fighting for a job, you know, let him. Let him have an at bat.
[00:30:26] Speaker B: I felt bad for those people pulling the tarp. Hailstones on the tarp. I mean, it had been. I mean, that rain came down fast and it just got too heavy for him to move. You any good tarp pulling stories?
[00:30:37] Speaker C: Well, okay, so back in the day, we had what we had. Phone tree back in the day. So we had to go put the tarp on. So we'd get calls at, you know, 5:00am to go put the tarp on the field or maybe late at night. And you had to answer the phone. It wasn't optional.
[00:30:53] Speaker B: So this is when you were in college.
[00:30:55] Speaker C: Yeah, U of A, Coach D.
So it was a phone tree. So someone would call You. You'd call the next guy, and if you couldn't get a hold of that guy, you had to skip down to the next guy and call him. But you had to be there to put the tarp on. And I guarantee DVH will remember these days where we put the tarp on by ourselves. And there were times, you know, you get up early in the morning, 5am A storm's coming in, you got to go put the tarp on. And it just sucked. I, I hated doing it. Be freezing cold, you're still half asleep. But, you know, in the minor leagues, there were times where you see the tarp blown completely off the field.
I played, I played Colorado Springs and it is so windy there. And there were times that were the tarp. The poor tarp crew, we're out there trying to help them because, you know, we, you know, we want to. We want to play sometimes. Sometimes we. We were a little slow to get out there. But it's funny, some of the stuff that happens. I mean, you could, you could watch a whole highlight reel like you, you YouTube at some time. And there's some hilarious things that goes.
[00:31:56] Speaker B: On with the tarp crew because those things get heavy.
[00:31:59] Speaker C: Yeah, well, the minute, the minute it started pouring down rain, they were messing around with the little mat at home plate. And I told, I told Nick Batters on the air, I said, there's no way they are going to get that tarpon because you could tell it was already covered up with. With rain. Then it started hailing and they started pulling on it. You know, the first guy out of the dugout.
[00:32:21] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:32:21] Speaker C: Goji goes out there, no helmet on, and it's hailing. And I'm like, that's my dude. I love that guy. He's my kind of player right there. He's the kind of guy that's going to drink out a water hose for you. He's just. I love that kind of guy.
[00:32:33] Speaker B: Apparently he's a pretty good football player up in Nebraska. And I'm seeing it, you know, just in like, the contact that he's taken and that situation right there. We got a lot more baseball to come. We're going to talk about Portland and this weekend series, plus Dave Van Horn's thoughts on Gabe Gankel. We'll talk about some of these pitcher injuries and much more coming up after this word from our sponsors at Kendall King.
[00:32:54] Speaker A: We're proud of over four decades of design. We're continuing the legacy of great creative design by combining our brands of Kindle, King soapbox and Shopcart. Together, these brands represent a new focus in marketing design with individual attention to specific areas. Through our design expertise, supported by a team of talented professionals, we showcase our best. We are Kendall King. We are Soapbox. We are Shopcart. We are designed.
[00:33:27] Speaker B: Hey, welcome back. Want to tell you about our friends at Bentonville Glass. They've been serving their community since 1971. Committed, professional and versatile. If you're looking for a quality leader in Northwest Arkansas or looking for skilled craftsmanship, look no further than Bentonville Glass for all your glass market needs with the highest quality products and come by and see them right now at 507 South Main in Bentonville or online at bentonvilleglass.com want to tell you too. You can get the latest breaking news on all Razorback sports@whole hogsports.com Analysis Latest in recruiting, unique stories on all your favorite teams. Subscribe
[email protected] youm can find our podcast on Apple. Just search Whole Hog Sports. We post a video version on YouTube and we post that each day to our social media on Facebook and Twitter. Just search Hull Hog Sports on any of those platforms. Arkansas back at Bomb tomorrow against Portland. The nickname.
[00:34:23] Speaker C: Oh come on.
[00:34:23] Speaker B: You remember this. I told you last night.
[00:34:25] Speaker C: Yeah, I wouldn't listen.
[00:34:27] Speaker B: They're the Pilots. That's right, the Portland Pilots.
[00:34:30] Speaker C: My bad. I gotta do a better job. So you and I are getting to know each other way better now. So sometimes I do to you.
I'm listening, but I'm not here.
[00:34:39] Speaker B: Yeah, no, I. I completely understand that.
Portland comes in here with a 5 and 8 record. They played Washington on Tuesday night in Seattle and lost that game three to nothing. Portland flew into Fayetteville last night. They're working out in Fayetteville today. I think they're getting some weightlifting done over at the Razorbacks facility at some point this afternoon. They play in the West Coast Conference. That's the same conference as San Diego, as Gonzaga, and they'll be in here Friday, 3 o'clock, Saturday at 2, Sunday at noon. Portland was projected to finish second in their conference this year. David Horn was asked after last night's game what he knew about Portland, which, you know, I mean, granted he's been focusing on other teams not a whole lot in that moment. But here's what he had to say.
[00:35:32] Speaker D: As far as Portland, you know, all we know is we've watched them a couple times this week playing. We've got some of their games that been dissecting a little bit.
You know, they pitched really well a Couple games, they've had some games that didn't go well.
We don't, you know, but again, it's like I tell our players, just long as we take care of our business, play good defense, which we've been doing, we have been giving away runs or extra bats and, and continue to get better, then that's what we can control anyway. So let's just worry about that.
[00:36:07] Speaker B: Portland going to start tomorrow night. Carter Gaston, he is a right hander. He's the reigning pitcher of the year in the West Coast Conference and he was a preseason All American. But he's a different kind of right hander. I was reading about him, bubba, on a D1 baseball report and they said that last year and I haven't seen any numbers for this year, but last year he had two fastballs that hit 90 miles an hour.
[00:36:33] Speaker C: So you know what that tells you that that means he's got a really good change up.
[00:36:36] Speaker B: Yep.
[00:36:36] Speaker C: So I mean, and guys like that are frustrating. I mean, look at Charlotte. We just got in facing Charlotte and those guys threw a ton of changeups. So those are the kind of guys that you don't like facing that just, you know, just, they just know how to pitch. You know what, they mix in some changeups. And that 90 mile an hour fastball or 88, whatever it is, looks like 95 after a good change up. So for me, I say all the time the changeup's a great equalizer.
[00:37:03] Speaker B: The last time I think Arkansas played a West coast pitcher of the year. I need to look this up, but I'm pretty sure that this is going To Be Right 2013, Marco Gonzalez from Gonzaga, who ends up being really good, you know, major league pitcher. I was there. It was in Surprise, Arizona on the backfields of the Royals and Rangers spring training complex. And this guy threw a complete game shutout against Arkansas.
[00:37:30] Speaker C: You know, I remember that. I want to say I was listening on the radio, but I remember that. I remember that game thinking, why aren't we hitting this guy?
[00:37:37] Speaker B: He pretty good. Turned out to be pretty good.
[00:37:39] Speaker C: Yeah, worked out pretty well.
[00:37:40] Speaker B: That wasn't a good weekend for Arkansas either. They were number, I think they were number one or two in the polls and 014, they got walked off by Pacific in front of like, you know, 40 people on what looked like a little league field. I mean, it was, yeah, that was, I thought, you know, I thought, hey, we're going to surprise. We're going to this spring training complex. This is going to be grand. And when they played Arizona State they played them two times that weekend. They played them in the, in the spring training ballpark, which is nice, you know, nine, 10,000 seats looks, you know, very similar, comparable to what we've got here at Bomb. But then they played Gonzaga and Pacific and I'm telling you it looked like watching an 11 year old little league game.
[00:38:23] Speaker C: Well, it sucks when you're used to playing at Bomb Walker and you go out there and you're expecting to play in this nice complex, they throw you on the back fields. Like we used to have a joke in spring training, like we'd call each other like I was backfield bubba. You know, we end up, we all want to take BP on the main field but it doesn't always work like that. So a lot of times you end up on the, if you're a non roster invite to major league camp, you're excited you're going to major league camp, you want to hit on the main field and a lot of times you end up, you end up on the backfield and so yeah, playing a game, I'm sure it's a huge letdown for the guys but no matter what you still gotta go out there and compete. I'm sure they did but you know, things, things happen.
[00:39:03] Speaker B: Yeah, it was, it was an interesting experience. Arkansas is going to keep the same rotation this weekend. Gabe Gackel in game one, Zach Root in game two, Landon Beitle, she's in game three. Really no surprise there. I didn't think that they were going to change this up at all, but they do need to have a good start from Gabe Gackel I think to keep him in this Friday role.
[00:39:23] Speaker C: I think so. And I think they've, they identified a couple things, made a couple more adjustments. I know they had moved him over to the first base side of the rubber.
You know, we'll see what they've done. I think they've probably moved him back over a little bit.
I think he's going to come out and be great, Matt, I really do. And a guy like Gabe, he's a tough pitcher, he's a competitor, you know, we talk about all week, you know how hard that is for a guy like that, that gave up. He's never given up nine runs in his life. You know, it's been a long week for Gabe and boy, I just hope he comes out and shoves on Friday and I think he's going to.
[00:40:01] Speaker B: It was Parker Coyle who made a comment after one of the Charlotte games the other day. They said he's pissed off And I would hate to be Portland next week. And it reminded me of something that Cody Frank told me last year after the James Madison game. He said Hagen is pissed. I would hate to be Oregon State on Friday. And we know what he did on that Friday night.
[00:40:21] Speaker C: Yeah, yeah. So I think. And that says a lot about him as a competitor. So yeah, I would not want to be Portland because I, I think he's going to be great.
[00:40:30] Speaker B: We'll see if Gabe can have a Hagan type bounce back performance. Hagen was obviously a real special pitcher. This is what Dave Van Horn said yesterday when I asked him about Gabe Gackel and how he's handling this from a confidence standpoint because like Bubba said, there's pretty good chance he's never gone through anything like this before.
[00:40:49] Speaker D: I think he's, I think he's handled it really well. I mean he's upset with himself and you know, he's, he's a hard worker. He's a dedicated, he's a dedicated kid, man. He's, he wants to win and he wants to be as good as he can be and he's got a lot of pride and I look, I look forward to watching him pitch on Friday. I think he'll have a really good outing.
[00:41:12] Speaker B: You know, Portland, as you look at their offensive stats and I know that we're looking at them as well, they're not, they're not stats that just, you know, strike a lot of fear into you. It feels like if the pitchers are on this weekend, it could be a really nice weekend for Arkansas from that standpoint.
[00:41:29] Speaker C: I think so it looks like to me it's going to be a team that they're not going to hit the ball out of the yard a lot. I think they've got 11 home runs right now.
They're 14 for 18 stolen bases, you know, so I think it's going to be a tough matchup for them as hitters. Facing our staff, facing our whole staff, starter, you know, bullpen, everything. I think it's going to be tough but you know, gotta go out and play the game, see what happens. And you don't know the conditions.
Friday looks good. Saturday looks a little iffy. North, north wind again. So when you get that wind blowing out, anything can happen.
[00:42:03] Speaker B: You're playing a game as windy as it was yesterday. Yeah, you said you played Colorado Springs.
[00:42:08] Speaker C: Colorado Springs. We, we actually got winded out in Colorado Springs. Winded out, winded out. Blue skies, winded out. It was blowing signs off the outfield. There was like a wind Tornado out on the infield, stuff flying everywhere. It was craziest thing I've ever seen. But yeah, blue skies.
[00:42:23] Speaker B: We got winded out as like a left handed hitter. You go up there on a day like yesterday and it's blowing 40 miles an hour out to center and right. I mean, are your eyes getting real big?
[00:42:34] Speaker C: Absolutely. And, and that's what's so impressive about this. You know how you do not when the wind's blowing out 40 miles an hour center field. As a hitter, you don't want to walk. And for these guys to go up there and take 13 walks, it says a lot about them. I mean, just their patience because I mean, you want to swing. I mean, you're facing pitching that you feel like you're going to crush. All you got to do is get it up in the air. It's like one of those days you want to pad your stats so you try to do too much and when you do that, you end up going 0 for 4 on a day that you should have. Yeah. You shouldn't happen.
[00:43:08] Speaker B: Did you have your windows open yesterday for the game with the wind?
[00:43:12] Speaker C: Well, no.
[00:43:13] Speaker B: You closed them?
[00:43:14] Speaker C: We closed them.
[00:43:15] Speaker B: There was one window open in the press box and I was afraid I was going to get one of those flying paper cuts. You talk about the there across your face.
[00:43:23] Speaker C: So in, in all, all the games I've done this first time, we kept the windows closed. I'd like to blame it on Nick, but I'm not going to. I said, well, it's up to you, whatever you want to do. And he said, well, it's up to you, whatever you want to do. We kept them closed. Phil took the heater out, so. And it gets really cold in that booth. I mean, and, and I went, when I went out to do the interview after the game, you know, because you're looking at, it's a blue sky. It looked like an 80 degree day. But I went out on the field to do the interview and I didn't have, I didn't have a coat on. And it's cold.
[00:43:53] Speaker B: You're cold. Yeah.
[00:43:54] Speaker C: And so it was, you know, I was glad no one got hurt. I was worried about guys like pulling a hammy or something happening. You know, when it's cold like that, it's the cold temperature doesn't get you. But that wind, it sounded like Little.
[00:44:06] Speaker B: House on the Prairie up in the press box yesterday. That just that, that the wind a couple of times, I mean, it was a little spooky.
[00:44:13] Speaker C: Did you watch that back in the day.
[00:44:15] Speaker B: I've watched a few episodes.
[00:44:16] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:44:16] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:44:17] Speaker C: Would have never thought that's an episode.
[00:44:19] Speaker B: Where they took like a pig bladder and turned it into a ball and threw it back and forth to each other.
[00:44:23] Speaker C: Did they?
[00:44:24] Speaker B: Yeah. I missed that episode to do that in Brentwood.
[00:44:28] Speaker C: No, we did use cow. Cow. How can I say it now? You say cow dung poo as a hockey puck.
[00:44:38] Speaker B: Okay.
[00:44:39] Speaker C: When the pond would freeze over, that was our hockey puck. Would. You'll find a crooked limb and cow crap. And there we go. Play. Well, we played with our work boots on, so. Yeah, someone. You learned something new about me.
[00:44:52] Speaker B: You played. You played hockey with your work boots and a crooked stick?
Yeah.
[00:44:58] Speaker C: We didn't have. We have skates. Are you kidding me?
[00:45:02] Speaker B: Didn't have any frozen ponds in Brentwood either. Right.
Hey, so Arkansas, I wanted to ask you about this because Dave talked about this on Monday at Swatters Club. They're four and one right now in one run games. And I say this in every sport, how you do in close games really determines, you know, are you a. Are you a good team, are you a great team? And so on and so forth. And right now we'll see how this goes when the competition gets better. But right now I think that they've got a good feeling about being in these close games and just there's a comfort playing in those, I think so.
[00:45:35] Speaker C: I think I love the Charlotte Series. I really did. I love the way the games went back and forth. I think that's really good for us. Good teams find a way to win those games. Bad teams find a way to lose. And we continue to find a way to win. And that's something that, you know, it doesn't matter who, who you're playing. It's the ability to answer back when that other team scores, get the big hit, make the big play on defense. Pitchers make the big pitch. I mean, that's what it takes to win those games. And we're doing it. I love it.
[00:46:06] Speaker B: Dave also gave an update on Monday on Hunter Deets and he's going to throw today to live hitters, probably about 20 pitches, maybe indoors. But he's going to get on the mound against live hitters today and then give a promising update on Gage. Wood said that he's already throwing a baseball. Obviously they're going to still take their time to get him back. But it feels like both of these pitchers are going to factor into their pitching plans probably sooner than later, I think.
[00:46:37] Speaker C: So like when they said three to five weeks with Gage, I'm like, okay, that means two weeks he's going to be, he's gonna be driving them nuts wanting to throw so that you got to rein him back. And, and Hunter Dietz, you know, I'm glad they're bringing him along slow. There's no need to rush him right now. I mean, we're gonna need him in June, you know, so I, I want him 100% because that dude, when he's healthy, he's the real deal. And you think about it, getting him back, getting Gage back. Oh, my goodness. That's.
That's pretty good. That's pretty special. That's. There's some really good arms. And then I like everyone they threw. I tell you what, Dylan Carter's been great. Dylan's been great. Tate McGuire, I love the way he pitches. Pounds his own. Aiden Jimenez looks mean on the mound. Looks. I love his mound presence. You know, even Cole Gibler looked really good. He just left one ball over the plate, but his stuff is good. That slider he throws is nasty. I mean, the ball's bouncing on the plate and dudes are swinging at it. So, I mean, there's just so much. McIntyre came in through some really good fastballs in and then through the cutter.
I don't know, I feel really good now. Once again, we have not. And I was going over the SEC stats and there's some pretty good offensive numbers being thrown up right now. So we're not in the SEC yet, but. But I like what I see so far.
[00:48:01] Speaker B: Okay, so I want to talk about that because next week is when SEC plays. I just wanted to kind of peek ahead a little bit to what's going on in the sec. You got two undefeated teams, Alabama and Tennessee. You know, Tennessee, they're.
They played in Houston and they played some good competition there, but when I see the numbers they put up, I tend to kind of step back a little bit and say, look, they're playing Radford, they're playing, you know, the competition that they schedule in the non conference. It's one thing to schedule, you know, these mid major, low major teams, but it feels like the type of teams they schedule are teams that aren't even competitive really in mid and low major conferences. And so that's not taking anything away from Tennessee, I think. I'm sure they're a great team this year. It's just when I see that they've hit seven grand slams and 36 home runs in 12 games, I don't know how much I, you know, I don't know how Much stock. I put in. That same thing with Alabama. You know, their. Their schedule. It feels like Alabama is always like the March All Stars, right? And, you know, they're 14 and 0 or 17 and 1 or something, and then conference play hits, and they win 10 games. And so we'll see if this is different for them this year. But they do have that shortstop, Justin LeBron, who. Baseball America just came out with their 26 draft rankings. They got him number one, and he's putting up some ridiculous numbers this year that.
[00:49:23] Speaker C: You're right about Alabama, though. Every year they get off to a ridiculous start, and if. If the season ended, then they'd be national champs. Every year. Tennessee. We know Tennessee can hit, but I agree. I think. I feel like the teams we're playing are at a higher caliber than what they've played, but they do that every year, and.
[00:49:43] Speaker B: And it works for them.
[00:49:44] Speaker C: I mean, they like. They like having big offensive numbers, and then they get good pitching to go with it, too. And lsu, I mean, pitching staff's really good. Lineups. Lineups. Pretty good. I mean, it's. If you look at the numbers. But I like where we're at right now. We're in the middle of the pack, offensive pitching. And. And I want to say, even Dave even said that we don't. We don't care if we're number one right now. You know, we just.
I think we're in a good place, and I see us getting better.
[00:50:17] Speaker B: If. And I think his point on Monday was that if you are number one in batting average or you're number one in the area right now, there's really nowhere else to go.
[00:50:25] Speaker C: Right.
[00:50:25] Speaker B: But, you know, like, there's not a lot of room to improve.
I mean, you can, you know, you can compete against yourself, I guess. But I understand what he's saying that, you know, they want to improve. They want to kind of have something to strive for and reach for.
[00:50:42] Speaker C: Well, I tell you, I was impressed with Davlon in yesterday's game, Game two of Ulm. I thought he. He did a better job of getting pitches in the zone. Drew a couple walks. I like that about him in the leadoff role. I thought he was getting a little too aggressive, rolling over too many balls to the right side. I thought he did a really good job of getting on base, and I think it's important for him to be on base with Veheva. It goes. It's. It's all about putting a lineup together. And I think Dave is. Is awesome at putting a lineup together because With Davilon on base, Veheva is going to get more fastballs. You know, I mean, it is what it is. They. Because Davlon will steal. Or if you lead off Justin Thomas, the same. You want someone on first base with ver up so he can get fastballs.
You know, I don't know. I just. I think he's an important, you know, piece to this. Of course, I mean, it's master of the obvious, your leadoff guy getting on. But I think it's really important what Davlin does at the top of the lineup.
[00:51:42] Speaker B: One more SEC note real quick. A&M, 7 and 5. And, you know, they. They played down in Houston, good teams down there, but they've lost some midweek games and they lost Gavin Grohovac, their third baseman, about a week and a half ago to a shoulder injury, and he's not going to play anymore this year. And it just feels like sometimes when you get that kind of devastating news, it can really send a team into a funk for a little while. And I think that may be what's happening a little bit with them.
[00:52:09] Speaker C: And you watch him play and you and I talked about it. I hate to see a guy go down like that. I mean, he's a great player. I love the way he plays the game. He's. He plays hard, he plays tough. I was really impressed with him last year as a freshman, you know, just the way he played the game. So you hate to see that. But you're right. One guy going down like that can affect that lineup, especially a guy that brings his toughness and that. That grittiness that he. He brings to the game.
[00:52:36] Speaker B: And they had that number one next to their name in the preseason. I mean, everybody had A and M number one. And we've seen that here. When you're number one, you get just a little bit extra from the teams that you're playing.
[00:52:48] Speaker C: Do you buy into the whole number one jinx?
[00:52:51] Speaker B: I don't know if I buy into a jinx, but I think that there's some pressure that goes along with when you have that, you know, associated with yourself.
[00:52:59] Speaker C: I don't think the players feel the pressure. I think the team that you're playing rises to another level.
It doesn't matter if you're playing Charlotte, Portland, you know, Ulm, whoever. I think anytime you're playing the number one team in the nation, you. You play different.
[00:53:17] Speaker E: You.
[00:53:17] Speaker C: You. There's just a little. And baseball so mental. You want to beat that team and you want to win every game. But I just think it's just that little mental edge that comes with it. And I don't think, like I said, I don't think it affects our players. I think it affects the opponent that you're playing.
[00:53:33] Speaker B: I think Arkansas would be just fine if LSU and Tennessee stayed 1, 2 for a little while.
[00:53:37] Speaker C: I do too.
[00:53:38] Speaker B: I think they're, I think they' happy laying there in that 3, 4 range.
[00:53:41] Speaker C: Yep.
[00:53:41] Speaker B: Keep it up. Bubba, appreciate you being here. I'd shake your hand but I'm afraid you played hockey this morning. But Arkansas and Portland this weekend, first pitch tomorrow at 3:00 over at Baum Walker Stadium here, Bubba, on the Razorback Sports Network. Obviously we'll have coverage on our website@whole hogsports.com when we come back. Anthony Christensen is going to be in here. We'll talk Razorback basketball. But first, another word from our sponsors at Kendall King.
[00:54:05] Speaker A: We're proud of over four decades of design. We're continuing the legacy of great creative design by combining our brands of Kindle King, Soapbox and Shopcart. Together these brands represent a new focus in marketing design with individual attention to specific areas. Through our design expertise, supported by a team of talented professionals, we showcase our best. We are Kindle King. We are Soapbox. We are Shopcart. We are designing.
[00:54:37] Speaker B: Hey, welcome back. We're joined by Anthony Christensen here in studio now. Anthony, just got back last night from Nashville watching Arkansas beat Vanderbilt 90 to 77 on Tuesday night maybe slash Wednesday morning.
It was late.
[00:54:52] Speaker E: I, I didn't feel the effects of that game yesterday morning, but this morning.
[00:54:57] Speaker B: When I woke up, yeah, it's, it's, it was a late game, long drive there, long drive back. I know you've been on the road quite a bit so I mean as you've had a couple of days to reflect now on what they did, seriously. And I just. Your thoughts on how big of a win this was for them?
[00:55:14] Speaker E: It was as big of a win as they could get in that spot. I mean they, not only did they win the game, but they won it pretty convincingly on both sides of the ball. Obviously we talked about the defense the other day, just forcing turnovers and forcing Vanderbilt into that 1 of 16 shooting stretch in the, the end period of the first half. So it's not only that they got the win, which that's obviously the most important thing, but to win in a pretty convincing manner. I don't, I don't remember many times in the second half where Vanderbilt got it to back to within single digits. Maybe that's my memory being foggy because I was fighting for my life to stay awake. But, but I mean, it was a convincing win. Like, I mean that's, that's big on the road against a very good Vanderbilt team. Obviously a quad one win. And I wouldn't necessarily say it offsets the South Carolina game just because obviously that was, that was a loss of disastrous proportions. But certainly goes a long way, especially with, I think, like we mentioned the other day, you know, a lot of some bubble teams also losing as well. So I think not only is the result important in just by itself, but in the, just kind of the landscape of where the bubble is, I think that also makes it all the more important.
And yeah, that, that, I mean, it's huge, basically.
[00:56:36] Speaker B: Was this your first time to Vanderbilt?
[00:56:38] Speaker E: It was. Man, I loved that arena. I know that's not a hot, that's not a very popular take, but like, I loved it.
[00:56:44] Speaker B: Their whole athletic complex is unique because the football stadium is connected to the basketball arena. It's connected to the baseball stadium. So like, to just kind of give you an idea, the baseball stadium on the third base side, it shares a concourse with the football stadium. So like, you know, you're going to the bathrooms or you're going to the concession stands in the football stadium even though you are at the baseball game. And that's the only place you can go to do that at the baseball stadium. Because on the other side of the baseball stadium, it's right along a city street and there's nothing built over there on that side. And then like the baseball offices and like a workout area, it overlooks the baseball stadium from the outfield, but it's actually part of Memorial Gymnasium.
[00:57:32] Speaker E: That's fantastic. And so I love that. I think.
[00:57:34] Speaker B: Yeah, well, I mean it's, it's, it's, it's different. It's the burden of building athletic complexes inside of an urban area, big city. And so it's, it's a really unique setup that they have there at Vanderbilt. If you've never been there, you know, I would, I would recommend going there and seeing it at least once. But you like, you like the arena?
[00:57:54] Speaker E: I did. I liked it a lot. And is it a new thing?
[00:57:57] Speaker B: Because I don't remember this. I think it's a new thing that the coaches can go out on the sideline.
[00:58:01] Speaker E: I think you're right.
[00:58:02] Speaker B: At Vanderbilt because used to they had to stay on the base out on the baseline.
[00:58:06] Speaker E: I think that is, I think you're right that that is a new Thing, But I loved it. I don't know why I liked it so much. Maybe it's just because, I mean, you go to a basketball arena, a lot of them are kind of similar. I mean, there's not a lot of. I mean, I don't want to say there's not a lot of personality in a lot of characters, because they're. Yeah, there's. There's character things. Yeah. Like, I mean, South Carolina was like half full, but they still did the. The sandstorm thing. And I was like, this would be way cooler if it was full.
[00:58:33] Speaker B: But, but to. To your point about South Carolina, when they built Colonial Life arena, they came to Fayetteville.
[00:58:39] Speaker E: Yeah. And they ripped off Bob Walton. So it was like. It was almost like stepping the same thing.
[00:58:44] Speaker B: Exactly. Ex. Exactly.
[00:58:46] Speaker E: I was like, oh, this looks familiar.
[00:58:47] Speaker B: Yeah. Like, when I was a kid, I used to watch Darkwing Duck. You ever watch Darkwing Duck?
[00:58:51] Speaker E: I have not.
[00:58:51] Speaker B: Well, Darkwing Duck, you know, he's like, he's got purple and these colors, and then he's got like this. This, you know, villain, and it's basically the same duck. He just wears different colors. That's kind of what it is. Colonial Life arena with Bud Walton. You walk in there and instead of, you know, cardinal red seats, you've got garnet.
[00:59:08] Speaker E: Yeah, that's. No, no knock on. On Colonial Life. I thought it was a pretty neat arena. I liked it.
Pretty decent game day environment for it being obviously South Carolina being what it is this season, and stinking, but pretty good game day environment. I was like, if this place was full, if I were here for a women's game, because they packed that place out for that women's team, and rightfully so. Like, I was like, this place would be awesome, but Vanderbilt, like, I. I think that that building was like, originally like a theater.
[00:59:40] Speaker B: Yeah.
[00:59:40] Speaker E: So, like, obviously, like, some of the seating is like below the court, which I kind of loved. I loved stepping down off the court when I was down there. That was fun. And it was loud. Like, it was pretty loud. Not, not like deafening, but, like, I mean, it was a 9pm Tip, so, I mean, it wasn't like it sold out or anything, but, like, when. When everybody was getting into the game, it was like a really nice, like, really good environment. And I was like, this place, this place rocks. It's unique. The baseline benches. I can't get over the baseline benches. Obviously I saw it on tv, but to see it in person, it's like different. Fantastic.
[01:00:11] Speaker B: One regular season game left for Arkansas. They play Mississippi State on Saturday. It's going to be an 11 o'clock tip off on SEC Network.
[01:00:18] Speaker E: An early tip.
[01:00:20] Speaker B: I mean, I said this yesterday. I think they're going to get a great crowd in their Saturday. It's one last chance to really try to push these guys across the finish line.
What do you expect to see in this game?
[01:00:34] Speaker E: I expect to see, I mean Mississippi State is, that's obviously as much of a lock as you can probably be, unless your name is Auburn, not to say, I mean, or any of those top teams. I guess in, in terms of the sec. Mississippi State, I worded that very poorly. Mississippi State's in the tournament for lack of a better term.
So they should be fine. It'll be interesting to see how Mississippi State tries to bounce back from the Texas game because Mississippi State has now lost three of its last four. So that'll be, that'll be interesting because I mean this is going to be an important game for seating for them, right? They, they don't want to end up on, you know, the 8, 9 line. They'd probably like to be a 6 or a 7. So that'll be interesting to see. As for what I expect, I mean Mississippi State earlier on this season was more of, more offensive than we, we kind of picture Chris Jan's teams to be at least based on past precedent. Not to say that they, they aren't because I mean Josh Hubbard is fantastic and Cam Matthews and all those guys, you know, they very fun to watch. More fun to watch than, than most Chris Jans teams, I think. And that's not a knock on Chris Jans, obviously he wins everywhere he goes. New Mexico State now, now Mississippi State. But I would like to, I would like to, I would expect to see, you know, maybe Mississippi State try to slow the game down a little bit. Try to play, you know, keep Arkansas at a slow pace. Because I think at times in the, in the Vanderbilt game, especially when Vanderbilt was turning the ball over, Arkansas got out in transition pretty well. So I think that's kind of something you're going to see. But I think Arkansas also can and maybe wants to play a little bit of a slower game. So maybe there is that. But yeah, Mississippi State does play a lot faster on offense than the most Christian teams have in the past. So I expect maybe to see a little bit of a mixture of that.
[01:02:28] Speaker B: It's been weird this year to see some of these teams that you expect to have like that slow pace of play, like Wisconsin for years and years they were grinded out. It's like brutal to watch basketball. And now they're scoring 85, 90 points.
[01:02:42] Speaker E: Greg Guard revolution there. It's crazy. I. Because I remember I was really low on Wisconsin coming into the season. I remember I texted my friend. Wisconsin has built a roster I would have been really excited about three years ago with John Tanjay and Cameron Hunter, but I mean, those guys have been fantastic. John Tanjay is arguably an all American and he's been fantastic. Not to go too much, too far.
[01:03:04] Speaker B: In almost I got to reign you back in here. But where I was going with this was that Mississippi State, you know, similar deal. You know, because we've seen Chris Jans both at Mississippi State. Then Arkansas played maybe the, you know, most molasses NCAA tournament game ever.
[01:03:19] Speaker E: I remember watching that. Yeah.
[01:03:20] Speaker B: When he was in New Mexico State, it was like 53 to 48.
[01:03:23] Speaker E: 48.
[01:03:24] Speaker B: I mean, so it's been interesting to watch Mississippi State.
Their style be so much different than what you would expect from that coaching staff this year.
[01:03:33] Speaker E: Yeah, no, and it's. It's been fun. I mean, it's been getting the most out of Josh Hubbard, who is, I mean, he's fantastic. He gives short guys hope. I think he's like five'eleven listed at five'eleven And I mean, I know how these basketball listings work. They always add an inch or two. If I were on a basketball roster, I'd be listed at six foot. I'm five nine, so.
Or five eleven, maybe. But yeah, it's interesting to see. I mean, they play at a quick pace. RJ Melendez is a lot of fun. He's been around for a long time too. And then obviously Josh Hubbard is who that offense is built around and he gets to align a lot and he converts his free throws at a high rate. He's a three level scorer and the team is really and rightly built around him. And yeah, they're fun to watch, which you don't really. Yeah.
[01:04:21] Speaker B: Quick note before we get out of here. Arkansas women's basketball loses to Georgia yesterday 79 to 74 at the FCC tournament out in Greenville, South Carolina. Arkansas blew an 11 point lead after halftime. Their season is over. Izzy Higginbottom broke the single season school record for scoring during that game yesterday. Broke Chelsea Dungey's record that, you know, probably a lot of people thought may. May never get broken.
And I think she did it in six fewer games than Dungy did, which is in.
[01:04:52] Speaker E: It's a crazy. It's crazy.
[01:04:54] Speaker B: But one last data point for Izzy to show the coaches that she deserved to be on all sec.
[01:05:03] Speaker E: Yeah, no, it, I remember I saw that and I was like, oh, that's, that's surprising. And then the more you look at like the numbers and everything and obviously Arkansas stunk just as a, as a team, obviously. So obviously I'm sure that's why.
But when you look at like the numbers just like the leading score in the conference and you know, put like set genuine record setting numbers for Arkansas and everything like that, I, I was, I was surprised that. I was very surprised that she didn't at least end up a SEC on second team. I mean, it's like I covered, I covered Evansville who went 5 and 27 and they ended up getting a guy on the third team in the Missouri Valley tournament or missour Missouri Valley a couple years ago. And I was like, oh, that's a pity. Pity vote. I guess not. Just because he was very good to me.
[01:05:49] Speaker B: If you leave your conference and scoring, you should be all confident.
[01:05:53] Speaker E: Yes, absolutely.
[01:05:54] Speaker B: It's like it should be an automatic.
[01:05:57] Speaker E: Yes, I, I would, I would. Yeah. 100% agree with that.
[01:06:00] Speaker B: It'd be like leaving Trey Johnson off the all SEC men's basketball team this year.
[01:06:04] Speaker E: Yeah. Which is not happening, I don't think.
[01:06:07] Speaker B: No, I think, I think you're right. Yeah, he's going to be on there.
[01:06:11] Speaker E: He's very good at basketball. And Izzy, Izzy Higginbottom also. Also very good at basketball. And I, I was very surprised to see that. I think I saw it. I mean, whenever it came out, it was. Was it yesterday?
[01:06:22] Speaker C: Right.
[01:06:22] Speaker E: Or is it two days ago? Two days ago, yeah. The days kind of run together in my head. I think I've said that a couple of times, but I remember I saw that, I was like, oh, interesting. That's weird. And then the more you look at like the numbers and Ethan had a really good commentary on our, on our website.
Like it becomes more and more shocking the more you look at it, despite the team having a very bad record. So that's. Yeah, that's kind of where I stand on it.
[01:06:50] Speaker B: Arkansas finished the year with a 1022 record. Now we wait to see what, if anything happens with Mike Neighbors as their coach, whether or not he's going to get to come back for another season with the Razorbacks. We appreciate you being with us today. Hope that we see you on our website whole hogsports.com Sam Pittman is speaking to reporter this afternoon to preview spring football. We'll have plenty from that on our website this afternoon. We'll also discuss it tomorrow on our podcast. Hope we see you at our website or if not, on our podcast, tomorrow. Have a great day, everyone.
